Robots Versus Wrestlers
Recap Barney is excited to get the gang to come with him to a grand-scale fighting match called "Robots Versus Wrestlers". Barney had bought a fifth ticket for Robin, despite knowing she had wished to spend time away from them, and indeed she ends up declining. Meanwhile, Ted finds himself continuously snubbed by his friends whenever he tries to appear intellectual, such as by reciting a poem, as his friends always make noises to interrupt him. At the apartment, Barney is introduced to Marissa Heller, who Ted explains was their apartment's previous occupant. Ted has been receiving her mail ever since they had moved in 10 years ago, and over the years, Marshall and Ted had gotten a good idea of what she might be like, although they have no idea what she looks like. In the present, Ted opens another such envelope addressed to her, which is an invitation to a high-society party in the Alberta building, a famous building that Ted describes as the most beautiful in Manhattan. Unfortunately, the party is the same night as Robots Versus Wrestlers, so Ted convinces the gang they'll make a brief appearance at the party before heading over to Robots, having Lily pretend to be Marissa so that they can gain entry to the party. As Lily is about to introduce herself as Marissa to the doorman, the real Marissa arrives, foiling their plan. Ted manages to impress Marissa with his intellectual knowledge, and Marissa agrees to take the group with her up to the party. Ted has a great time at the party, becoming a big hit, while Marshall, Lily, and Barney find it boring and want to leave. Ted decides to stay, leaving Barney hurt, as he, Marshall and Lily head to the Robots event. Marshall thinks Robots Versus Wrestlers is awesome, but Barney is bothered by the fact that their group appears to be growing apart: Robin moving in with Don, Ted leaving them for the party, and Marshall and Lily possibly having a baby soon. Lily assures Barney that, though they might drift apart, they'll still remain friends. Meanwhile, Ted continues to have a good time at the party and begins reciting a poem to everyone there, in the original Italian. As he does so, Ted is amazed no one interrupts him and realizes maybe he has gone too far, and wishes someone would stop him. At that moment, Marshall and the others discover Ted's doppelgänger, a Mexican wrestler at the event. Barney sends Ted a picture, who upon seeing it immediately leaves the party. Meanwhile, Barney, Marshall, and Lily are at MacLaren's, where Barney has been making a series of absurd rules they have to follow if Marshall and Lily have their baby. Barney gets up to get a drink, and Marshall asks Lily to seriously consider the possibility of having a baby. Lily points out they won't be able to do as many fun things as before, such as finding Ted's doppelgänger at Robots Versus Wrestlers. They then agree that they won't start trying to have a baby until after they've found the fifth doppelgänger of the group, Barney's. Ted arrives later, where Barney apologizes to him and allows to him to recite another poem. As Ted begins to do so, Robin arrives and interrupts him with a fart noise. As the gang shows her Ted's doppelgänger, Future Ted explains that, although the group grew apart one time or another, they always made sure to get together every year for Robots Versus Wrestlers. Continuity *The fourth doppelganger, Mexican Wrestler Ted, appears in this episode. The existence of the doppelgangers was first mentioned in . *Ted is seen mentioning the fact that Ulee's Gold appears in crossword puzzles frequently because of the vowels in *Lily reprises her fake British accent, previously seen in . *In the flashback to when Ted and Marshall is sorting out their first mail when moving in to the apartment: Ted can be seen in the kitchen with a box labeled: "Pot lids", just like in where he moves into Robin's apartment. *The name Van Smoot is mentioned again having been previously referenced as the surname of the Captain and as the name of the venue where Marshall and Lily wanted to get married. Gallery Memorable Quotes Notes and Trivia Goofs and Errors *In the flashback to when Ted and Marshall first moved into the apartment, they have the same couch they had now. In the first season, they had a different couch. Also, in they gave away a different couch still. And in Ted reminded of the time that his sister sold his couch. Between these things, its pretty unlikely that they would have the red couch when they first moved in. *In the opening scene Marshall is wearing a Packer green and yellow shirt, and Lily, the Packer yellow dress, as a Vikings fan Marshall would never make that mistake. Allusions and Outside References *When Lily picks up the candlestick and states, "Miss Lily in the living room with the candlestick" she is referencing the classic murder-mystery-solving boardgame of Clue in which players must determine who did it, where, and with what. *Ted quotes from Dante's Inferno in both English and the original Italian. *The snooty quartet including Ted is a reference to the film, . *Ted recites the poem "Friendship," written by . *Marshall hits a gong, which was supposedly used in 1885 during the premiere of , by and . *Lily mentions in the elevator. *The candlestick that Lily holds supposedly belonged to the poet . *Ted tells Marissa that the architect of the Alberta, Lewis Lamar Skolnick, is one of his favorite architects. Lewis Skolnick and Lamar were both characters in . *The Alberta is a parody of a apartment building with a storied history. Music *The Living End - *Tell Me Why - From *One Spring Away - From *We All Belong - Dr. Dog * performed by the Ted Mosby Quartet Other Notes *International Airdates: United Kingdom: October 21, 2010 on E4; India: November 3, 2010 on Star World; Czech Republic: January 10, 2011 on Prima COOL; Germany: February 16, 2011 on ProSieben. *Ted is wearing the same New York Cubans T-Shirt that Don wore in the previous episode . Guests * - Marissa Heller * - Jefferson Van Smoot * - Himself * - Herself * - Himself * - Jolene * - Waiter *Brea Cola - Hannah *Rebecca Klingler - Marla Reception Donna Bowman of rated the episode with a grade A. http://www.avclub.com/articles/robots-vs-wrestlers,41021/ Amanda Sloane Murray of gave the episode 7.2 out of 10. http://tv.ign.com/articles/108/1088744p1.html Cindy McLennan of rated the episode with a grade C+. http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/how_i_met_your_mother/robots_vs_wrestlers_1.php References External Links * * * Category:Episodes Category:Season 5